TOPEKA – The Kansas economy lost an estimated 6,900 jobs in September, including 3,800 private-sector jobs, while people who remained employed worked more hours, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted figures from the Kansas Department of Labor.

The state’s unemployment rate, which is measured by a different survey, remained unchanged from August at 3.3 percent.

“The losses were spread across government and private businesses,” senior labor economist Tyler Tenbrink said in a news release. “However, employers did increase the number of weekly hours for existing employees. Hourly earnings for workers went up as well.”

The biggest losses in private-sector employment occurred in the leisure and hospitality sector, which lost an estimated 1,700 jobs. The construction industry lost an estimated 1,400 jobs, while the trade, transportation and utilities sector shed an estimated 1,100 jobs.

The only significant job gains over the month were in the professional and business services sector, which picked up about 1,100 jobs.

The figures released Friday represented the first net job losses Kansas has seen in more than a year. Compared with a year earlier, however, total employment was up by about 19,600 jobs, or 1.4 percent.

The Lawrence metropolitan area gained about 1,260 jobs during the month while the local unemployment rate fell to 2.6 percent.

On the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the total job count held about steady while the size of the civilian labor force shrank, lowering that area’s jobless rate to 2.9 percent.

The Topeka area’s job count also remained relatively steady while its local jobless rate dipped to 3.1 percent.

The Wichita metropolitan area’s labor market picked up about 1,100 jobs, lowering its unemployment rate to 3.3 percent.

The Manhattan area, meanwhile, gained about 1,300 jobs, lowering its unemployment rate to 2.4 percent.